The invention relates to clamps for the connection of intersecting wires or rods and for the connection of shrubs to the rods.
More particularly, the invention is concerned with a clamp for the connections of two intersecting wires or rods which are intended to tie vines or other fruit-bearing shrubs. Specifically, the clamp is intended for the joining of a span wire with a fluted wire which can serve as a post; the span wire and the fluted wire are transverse to each other and cross with one overlaying the other in juxtaposition thereto.
It is known heretofore that vines in vineyards are to be tied to posts. The vines are tied to the posts and span wires which run in a transverse direction to the span wires. Use is made of string, bast or other suitable bending wire for tying the aforesaid to each other. This has been found to be cumbersome, time-consuming, and therefore quite costly.
The vines are tied to the posts for the vines and the span wires running transverse thereto by means of string, bast, or binding wire to each other. This is cumbersome, time-consuming and, therefore, costly.
It is therefore an object of the invention to facilitate the tying of the span wire and the post by means of an easy-to-handle and reliably functioning clamp which can be inexpensively produced and made from one piece of a long lasting durable plastic, and which, in particular, can be manufactured by the injection molding method. In order to accomplish the aforesaid object, the present invention proposes a clamp which is made of an elastically deformable but sufficiently stiff plastic and comprises a yoke for gripping around the wire or rod, the yoke is connected to three unilaterally open seating means such as forks, yokes, or with holding devices, each provided with a groove, flute, slot, notch or the like for the insertion of the fluted wire, the seating means have openings which are U-shaped, and transverse to each other or angularly displaced, the seating means includes three U-shaped channels, two of which open in the same direction, and the third, such as middle seating means opens or points in a direction opposite to that of the two outer seating means and do not be in a plane through the yoke or a plane parallel therto, a free space is provided between any two adjacent seating means so that the other wire or rod can pass therethrough, and the three seating means are staggered relative to each other so that the other wire or rod is prevented from lying in a straight line in the three seating means when the clamp is not deformed.
The mutual spacing of the ends of the yoke is smaller than the diameter of the one wire or rod it grips. The three seating means for the other wire or rod are located on extensions which emanate from the ends of the yoke in opposite directions with one seating means such as one of the outer seating means being coordinated with the one end of the yoke while the two others, the center or middle one and the other outer one are interconnected by a web are coordinated with the other end of the yoke. The bases of the three U-shaped seating means are in mutual alignment.
The aforesaid clamp accomplishes the foregoing object, and in order to tie two wires or rods, the clamp yoke is laid around the one wire or rod and the clamp itself is fastened to the other wire or rod by inserting the latter simultaneously into all three unilaterally open U-shaped seating means of the clamp. Since the openings of these three seating means point alternately in opposite directions, this other wire or rod is elastically clamped between the bases of the three seating means with the U or leg portions being used for transverse alignment. Either the wire or rod, or the clamp, or both are elastically deformed when inserting the wire or rod. To accomplish this, the base of the three U-shaped seating means are expediently arranged so as to be in mutual alignment with the bases of the two outer seating means lying in a common plane and the base of the center seating means lying in a plane spaced from the other two, a distance equal to, or preferably less than, the diameter of the other wire or rod. The clamping force can be increased further when the base of the middle seating means is offset or spaced from the line of alignment of the two outer seating means in the direction of the opening of the middle seating means. Due to the clamping force, a locking action because of friction is brought about between the clamp and this other wire or rod; only after overcoming the friction between the clamp and the other wire or rod can the clamp be moved on or along the other wire or rod.
The retention of the one wire or rod which serves as a post can be affected by designing the yoke as a detent into which the other wire or rod can be inserted or from which it can be removed only be means of elastic deformation of the yoke. As noted, heretofore, the spacing between the two bases of the U-shaped member is slightly less than the diameter of the other rod to provide for the required frictional holding. The one or post wire or rod which suitably serves as the post is held within the yoke and the other wire or rod by the other wire or rod which in turn is held by the three U-shaped seating means.
Preferably, the wire or rod which serves as the post is retained in the yoke by the other or transverse wire or rod; this transverse wire or rod when it is inserted into the three seating means is conducted so that the post is positioned between the transverse wire so that the yoke is closed by the transverse wire or rod. A suitable plastic material for the clamp is a polycarbonate material known as MAKROLON. This plastic is elastically deformable so that, depending upon the thickness of the clamp and the required stiffness and strength of the clamp, it can still be readily elastically deformed by hand to tie the wires or rods while providing for, on the other hand, an adequately string clamping force to lock the portions of interconnection of the two wires or rods with sufficient strength. The depth of the U or V-shaped slots are determined by the diameter of the transverse rod. But, the slots should not be unnecessarily deep so that the insertion of the transverse wire or rod is less cumbersome. To facilitate this insertion, the long web, at the end of which one of the outer seating means is located, is about 20 to 40 mm long. The procedure for the insertion of the transverse wire is to insert the transverse wire firstly into the two seating means directly adjacent to the yoke on one side thereof which is still possible easily without deforming the clamp. To insert the wire or rod into the third remaining seating means at the other end of and the other side of the yoke, the long web, the latter must be silightly bent elastically until the transverse wire or rod can snap into the seating means over the latter's edge. Since the web is relatively long, it can be bent as required by a moderate exertion of force.
Producing the clamp by injection molding and handling it are facilitated by providing the yoke and the web which connects the two of the three seating means to be in a common plane. Specifically, the web connecting the two oppositely facing seating means, both of which are disposed on the one side of the yoke, and the U-shaped yoke member lie in a common plane. The long web which connects the two of the three seating means on one side of the yoke is of a thickness, measured perpendicular to the plane through the yoke which is significantlly greater than the inside width of the seating means. Also, the web is rectangularly or oval-shaped in section, and the largest diameter of the oval in case of an oval or the broad side of the rectangle in case of a rectangle is perpendicular to the plane through the yoke. If the long web connecting two of the three seating means is molded as set forth, its side surface perpendicular to the plane through the yoke can serve to advantage as a contact surface for a vine to be tied at this point. Since the contact surface is considerably wider and less round than that of the span or transverse wire inserted into the three seating means or U-shaped slots, the web is effectively prevented from being grown into the vine The possibility of contacting and tying a vine is also furthered by making the length of the long web. If the vine were tied directly to the span wire, as currently customary, the danger would always be present of the span or transverse wire being grown into the vine.
Instead of tying the vine with string, bast or the like it can now be tied to advantage by means of an arm which is molded as integral part of the clamp. After the clamp has interconnected the two intersecting rods or wires, the vine is placed against the web between two of the three seating means, and the arm is then bent around the vine elastically, starting from one side of the yoke to be hooked to the span wire on the other side of the yoke by means of its hook. The arm thus roughly forms a semicircle.
In its released state the arm may be straight, but it may also be molded curved to limit the extent of the elastic deformation when tying the vine. The yoke for this purpose is formed with an extending arm from one leg of the U-shaped yoke which continues as an elastically flexible arm and which is at least approximately 50 mm, preferably approximately 150 mm long and from which arm at least one hook projects. Specifically, the extending arm is provided, with a plurality of identical hooks that project from the arm with regular mutual spacing between adjacent hooks starting approximately 50 mm away from the top of the yoke. Further, preferably the extending arm and the yoke and the web lie in one common plane. So that the arm may be suited for vines of various thicknesses it is preferably longer than 50 mm and equipped with a number of the aforesaid hooks which can individually be hooked to the one wire or span wire. The hooks can project from the arm perpendicularly with respect to the plane through the yoke and are L-shaped.
While the inventive features have been described in general terms, the invention contemplates three different embodiments which are directly related to each other to provide for clamps for clamping different types of vines and for different purposes all of which fall within the general scope of the disclosure of this invention. For example, the hooks and arm all lie in a common plane. However, the hooks may be differently oriented with respect to the common plane of the yoke and the extending arm. In one embodiment, the hooks, arm and yoke lie in a common plane, whereas in another embodiment, the hooks are rotated out of the common plane of the arm and the yoke.
Other objects, advantages and the nature of the invention will become readily apparent from the detailed description of the invention described in connection with the accompanying drawings.